[Bank of America Q2 2026 Earnings Call] Bank of America Earnings Surge 27% to $9.1 Billion; Equities Trading Revenue Jumps 70%, Full-Year Guidance Lifted

Bank of America delivered a stunning second quarter that shattered analyst estimates, underscoring the strength of its diversified business model and a favorable capital-markets environment. Net income soared 27% year over year to $9.1 billion, or $1.21 per share, while revenue climbed 15% to $31.6 billion. The blowout performance prompted the bank to lift key full-year targets, boosting its net interest income growth outlook and operating leverage guidance. “Every business segment contributed to our year-over-year growth. Average deposits and loan balances continued to grow, supported by healthy client engagement,” Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on the earnings call.

The headline numbers were driven by explosive growth in sales and trading and investment banking fees, coupled with steady advances in net interest income. Below is a snapshot of the bank’s key financial metrics for the period.

Metric	Q2 2026	Q2 2025	Change
Revenue	$31.6B	$27.5B	+15%
Net Income	$9.1B	$7.2B	+27%
Earnings Per Share	$1.21	$0.90	+34%
Net Interest Income (FTE)	$16.2B	$14.9B	+9%
Sales & Trading Revenue (ex-DVA)	$7.2B	$5.4B	+33%
Investment Banking Fees	$2.1B	$1.4B	+50%
Efficiency Ratio	59%	66%	-7pp
Return on Tangible Common Equity	17%	14%	+3pp

Record Markets Revenue Powers the Beat

The Global Markets division stole the show. Excluding debit valuation adjustments, net income surged 70% to $2.7 billion, as sales and trading revenue hit $7.2 billion—an increase of 33%. Equities trading delivered an all-time high of $3.6 billion, up 70% from a year ago, driven by client financing activity and robust performance in derivatives and cash trading. FICC generated $3.5 billion, its strongest quarter in over a decade. International revenue jumped 38%, with Asia-Pacific a standout.

“Perhaps what stands out most is the consistency of our performance, because we’ve now delivered 17 consecutive quarters of year-over-year sales and trading revenue growth,” Chief Financial Officer Alastair McCaig said. The strong flow of client activity and improved market share overseas echoed the bank’s messaging at its investor day, where it vowed to sustain momentum in global trading.

The following chart shows the revenue mix across the four business segments, highlighting the dominant contribution of Global Markets in the quarter.

Investment Banking Fees Surge 50%

Investment banking revenue rocketed 50% to $2.1 billion, reflecting strength across debt underwriting, advisory, and equity underwriting. After a slower second quarter in 2025 for the entire industry, the pipeline rebounded sharply. McCaig noted that while the year-ago comparisons get tougher in the second half because the third quarter of 2025 saw $2 billion in fees, business conditions remain “very good.” The bank’s technology and AI investments have also made bankers more efficient in researching and presenting materials, further sharpening the competitive edge.

Wealth Management Hits Record Balances

Global Wealth & Investment Management posted record revenue of $6.9 billion, up 16%, as client balances hit an all-time high of $4.9 trillion. Assets under management swelled by 17% to $2.3 trillion, supported by $14 billion in AUM flows in the quarter and $78 billion over the past four quarters. Pre-tax margins expanded above 27%, and net income jumped 42% to $1.4 billion. The combination of higher market valuations, strong flows, and rising net interest income reinforced the powerhouse status of the Merrill and Private Bank franchises.

Consumer Banking Delivers Steady Growth

Consumer Banking revenue rose 5% to $11.3 billion, with net income up 10% to $3.3 billion. Average deposits in the segment grew to $957 billion, a fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. Card spending accelerated to 9% year over year, reaching $266 billion, and the bank added 162,000 net new checking accounts. Chief Executive Moynihan noted that consumer spending in the broader economy is now running at a 6%+ pace, outstripping earlier forecasts. The division’s efficiency ratio held at a lean 51%.

Net Interest Income and the Balance Sheet

Net interest income on an FTE basis reached $16.2 billion, a 9% improvement, fueled by loan growth of 8% and a 2.5% rise in average deposits. The net interest yield expanded 14 basis points to 2.08%. McCaig said that the bank still expects the yield to climb toward 2.30% over the next couple of years, as it pays down repo and institutional CDs that tie up capital and compress margins. Asset sensitivity remains a tailwind: a 100 basis points parallel shift above the forward curve would boost NII by $1 billion over the next 12 months, the bank disclosed.

Loan growth was broad-based, with average commercial loans up 11% and consumer loans up 3%. The middle-market and larger corporate segments both contributed, and the bank expressed confidence that credit-card growth, now at 4%, is on track to hit its 5% target. “It’s pretty clear we’re in a good environment for loan growth,” McCaig said.

Operating Leverage and AI Investment

Riding the revenue surge, Bank of America generated 660 basis points of operating leverage in the quarter, pushing the efficiency ratio down to 59%. First-half operating leverage stood at 450 basis points, prompting management to lift its full-year target to 300-400 basis points, up from the prior outlook of more than 200 basis points. McCaig attributed the upgrade to NII grinding higher and strong fee-based performance, while acknowledging that tougher year-ago comparisons will compress leverage in the second half.

Artificial intelligence is playing a growing role. The company now has over 300 approved AI use cases, with 114 live generative AI applications. Employees generate more than 400,000 prompts a day, using tools to prepare for client meetings, automate research, and code more efficiently. Moynihan said AI is “something for the future” that will drive growth, efficiency, risk management, and resiliency. Yet when pressed by analysts, management stopped short of quantifying the direct cost savings, emphasizing that the technology’s benefits are embedded in ongoing productivity improvements and will help sustain operating leverage above the normalized 200-300 basis points range over the long term.

Credit Quality Remains Benign

Credit metrics stayed healthy. Net charge-offs were flat at $1.4 billion, while non-performing loans held at $5.8 billion. Reservable criticized commercial exposures dropped by $2.3 billion to $22 billion, driven mainly by improvements in commercial real estate. The bank recorded a modest reserve release. Moynihan said the economy is “constructive” and that worries around real estate and private lending have not materialized in the credit book.

Capital Returns and the Path Ahead

With a CET1 ratio of 11.2%, well above the 10% minimum, the bank returned $8 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Looking ahead, Moynihan struck an optimistic tone: “Full pipelines in the markets business, strong investor demand for debt and equity, commercial lending strengthening and continuing to broaden out… we’re well-positioned to be a part of all that growth.”

The earnings call highlighted both the cyclical tailwinds from capital markets and the bank’s internal discipline. While some analysts questioned whether the operating leverage momentum can persist when activity normalizes, management’s message was clear: a combination of organic growth, expense control, and technology investment is propelling Bank of America into a new earnings plateau.